The present invention relates to telecommunications systems and methods and in particular, to a system and method for non-intrusively displaying information to a user in a telecommunications system.
Telecommunications systems, such as call centers, are used to process inbound and outbound telephone calls. Businesses and customer service organizations utilize a telephone call center to place and receive telephone calls to and from customers or potential customers, for example, for credit collection or telemarketing. Such telecommunications systems or call centers typically include a number of audio headsets and data terminals, such as computers, used by agents or operators to communicate with the called parties and calling parties. Using the data terminal or PC, the agents can view and/or enter call record data pertaining to the party (e.g., the customer or potential customer) and the transaction being made.
In a typical call center, when an incoming telephone call is received, an agent is selected based upon certain criteria, such as the type of call and the expertise of the agent, and the call is automatically routed to the selected agent. When a call is routed to the agent, the call center will typically transmit information pertaining to the call or the calling party to the agent automatically for review by the agent when handling the call.
Although this type of automated call center facilitates and speeds call processing by the agents, the transmission of information to the agent is done in a relatively intrusive manner. For example, the system may use a window dialog to display the telephone call information as the call is transferred. This technique, however, can present a problem with screen real-estate and can interrupt the focus/typing of the agent using the computer.
According to another technique, the information can be displayed by way of application integration using object linking and embedding (OLE), dynamic data exchange (DDE), transmission control protocol/internet protocol (TCPIP), high level language API (HLLAPI), and the like. However, these methods require that the target application have one or more of these integration points in order to pass the information. A further method of displaying this information uses the liquid crystal display (LCD) on the telephone. However, the information that can be displayed on the LCD is limited to what the PBX has programmed into it.
Accordingly, a need exists for a system and method of non-intrusively displaying information such as telephone call information to a user in a telecommunications system. In particular, a need exists for a system that allows integration of the information being displayed into any windows application title bar that currently has the Windows focus, allowing the call center agent to continue working without interruption while receiving the information about the calling party.
The present invention features a method for non-intrusively displaying telephone call information to a user in a telecommunications system including at least one computer running a windows-based operating system. The method comprises the steps of obtaining the telephone call information pertaining to a telephone call routed to the user by the telecommunications system, and displaying the telephone call information in a title bar of an active window on the computer used by the user to which the call is routed.
According to the exemplary embodiment, the method for non-intrusively displaying information to a user in the telecommunications system comprises the steps of executing a bind function script on the computer used by the user upon detecting a system start-up event, and executing a display information script on the computer used by the user upon detecting an occurrence of a telephony event. Executing a bind function script preferably includes loading an external module including a display function on the computer, and binding the display function in the external module to the display information script stored on the computer. The step of executing the display information script preferably includes the steps of obtaining telephone call information pertaining to a telephone call routed to the user by the telecommunications system, and displaying the telephone call information to the user using the display function.
According to the preferred embodiment, the computer is running a windows-based operating system and the external module includes a dynamic link library (DLL) having a windows text display function. The windows text display function preferably controls display of text in a title bar of an active window on a display of the computer used by the user, and the telephone call information is displayed in the title bar of the active window. The step of executing the display information script further includes replacing the telephone call information in the title bar with original title bar text. In one embodiment, the telephone call information includes automatic number identification (ANI) information.
The present invention also features a system for non-intrusively displaying telephone call information to a user in a telecommunications system. One embodiment of the system comprises a bind function script for loading the external module on the computer, and a display information script for displaying telephone call information to the user using the display function of the external module. The system further comprises an event processor for detecting a system start up event and at least one telephony event, and for receiving the telephone call information upon occurrence of the telephony event. The system further comprises a scripting engine, responsive to the system start up event, for executing the bind function script to load the external module having the display function, and responsive to the telephony event, for executing the display information script to display the telephone call information to the user at the computer using the display function.